Title:
Biographical Record of Livingston and Woodford Counties Illinois
Publisher:
S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Chicago
Year:
1900
James A. Caldwell
Born in Charleston, West Virginia March 22, 1831
Son of Joseph & Mary Ann (Adams) Caldwell
Note the following information is as given in the biography.
Joseph Caldwell the progenitor of the family emigrated from
Derry, Ireland
1769 & settled in Sherman's Valley, Perry County,
Pennsylvania. He was of Scotch descent. About 1780 he moved farther
West, locating on Sewickely
Creek, Pennsylvania. He had five children, of whom Joseph was
the eldest,
was the great-grandfather of our subject. the grandfather was
James Caldwell,
who was born in Ireland, February 21, 1739 and was about ten
years of age
when brought to America. He married Sarah Byram who was born
February,
13, 1763, and was the eldest child of Edward Byram. For more
information on the Byram family see the book entitled
"Abby Byram and her Father, the Indian
Captives," published at Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1898.
After his marriage James Caldwell, our subject's grandfather,
became a farmer
of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where he spent his
life, dying there
July 11, 1847. His wife passed away prior to 1833. He was a
zealous Christian,
strong and positive in his belief, and served as elder of the
Sewickley Presbyterian church for some
years. Most of his sons adhered to that faith and the father of our
subject was educated for the Presbyterian ministry. He was
born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1786 and was a student at the
college in Cannonsburg, that state, --the oldest college west
of the mountains.
In early manhood he removed to Charleston, West Virginia,
where he embarked
in merchandising, and became one of the most prominent and
successful
business men of the place. He married Miss Mary Ann Adams,
who was teaching school in Tennessee at that time.
She was native of Weston,
Massachusetts, and a granddaughter of Alpheus Bieglow, who as
a Revolutionary soldier participated in the
battle of Concord. She was born in
1811 and died in 1890, having long survived her husband, who
died at
Charleston in 1848. Of their eight children who reached years
of maturity our
subject is the oldest.
James A. Caldwell first married Jennie Harvey of Springfield, Ohio in 1860 a
daughter of
Captain John Harvey. She died in 1873, leaving two children, one of whom,
Jennie, is still living.
In September, 1874, James A. Caldwell again married, his second wife being
Lovina Hill, of Pontiac, Illinois, a daughter of G. E. Tibbets.
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